While I was hunting for quarantine deals on RPG materials, I ran across a cache of tiny, bite-sized writing games that I really liked. I’d really like to build up a selection of these types of games for use in a home-schooling setting.
What is this?
There’s a lot of games like this on the web, and they’re described in a lot of different ways. They’re sometimes called “micro-games” or “micro-RPGs.” Typically, they are role-playing-games, although they don’t bear much resemblance to the type of thing we usually imagine when we hear that term. The most descriptive label that I have seen is “journaling game.”
How can I use it?
The basic CC standard that these games relate to is this: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3 (Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.) It’s essentially scaffolded practice with writing narratives. The game mechanics are a bit of extra structure which makes the process easier, and quicker.
Here are some more ways that journaling games can be useful in your classroom
- Bellwork – a lot of teachers use daily journals as bellwork to get students in their seats and working silently before the class starts.
- In a school with an emphasis on classroom management, the main goal is to set the tone for the period, to ensure that there’s no excuse for off-task behavior during transition time.
- Daily journals are an unobtrusive means of periodic informal assessments. Journaling can be something really low-pressure that is not completed for a grade. It may not be worth points, but it provides the instructor with valuable information on a student’s level of achievement in writing.
- Journal-writing for bellwork meets part of the following standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.10 (Write routinely over extended time frames and shorter time frames for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.) It’s a way to ensure that students have practice with extemporaneous, short writing assignments for a variety of purposes.
- Journaling games may be a vehicle for practicing or assessing relevant writing skills, or vocab words – you could easily ask students to complete 1 round of the game for each vocab word they are practicing, using that word correctly in their written responses to the game’s prompts.
- A means of processing and responding to the assigned reading – this application is fairly dependant on being able to match a specific journaling game to a specific text with similar or compatible tone and themes. If a good match can be made, the journaling game can be a way for the student to mimic the tone/themes of the text, or to push them further, or to take them in a different direction.
- A fun and constructive reward for students who have extra time – you always need ways to occupy kids who speed through their work.
- A template for students to create their own journaling games – the mechanics of this game are such that they can easily be used as a copy/paste template. Students can create their own scenario and replace the tables with their own text to create a totally different product.
Alone Among the Stars
by Takuma Okada
You are a solitary adventurer, hopping from planet to planet exploring. Each world has unique features for you to discover and record. They are represented by cards from a standard deck, placed face down.
Instructions
- To find a new planet, roll a 6-sided die and place cards face down equal to the number rolled.
- To flip over a card & make a discovery, roll a 6-sided die:
- On a 1-2 it is arduous to get to.
- On a 3-4 you come upon it suddenly.
- On a 5-6 you spot it as you are resting.
- The suit and rank determine the discovery. In your ship’s log (a small journal if you have one), record a short description and your reaction in a few sentences
- Roll for the next card. Each time you complete a planet, give it a number or a name, and find a new planet.
Tables
TEACHERBRAIN 